Northop P61-B "Black Widow"

there was this story of a fully-loaded b-29 that malfunctioned in flight and couldn't land. so the pilot just set the controls steady and the entire crew parachuted. now with a full bomb load, the bomber was a threat to civilians on the ground so it had to be shot down safely. a black widow was dispatched. the plane emptied its 4 20mm gund and two brownings but failed to down the bomber.

 

Later during the Japanese occupation of Manila (1944) I use to hear P-61s flying over the city at night. They had a distinctive sound. I don't exactly know what kind of mission they were involved in but nightly at dusk they will appear, singly or two, over the city.

 

Eric
I followed your chat regarding the operatons of the 422nd and 425th NFS. I was eager to see the operations of the 425th in late 1944. My uncle - Byars - was a P61 pilot in the 425th ultimately killed by friendly
fire on Dec 27th while flying plane #5584. He was awarded the DFC sometime prior and I wuld like to learn the specifics of that citation.
Empire 32

PS That (Empire 32) was his call sign on his last missioin

 

stay tuned .............

I am only at the first week of December 1944 at the moment. yes been awhile since I ahve added anything, it will come as business slows down the next 4 weeks

 

Great to hear that, Erich! I´m curios!

 

I look forward to your future installments of information about the 425th, thier missions and of course any notations you find about Byars.

Empire32

 

see here for the story.. I've been in touch with Allison Gordon..422 NFS vet Uncle Al is happily still with us...

FalkeEins - the Luftwaffe blog: P-61 Black Widow vs. He 177 Greif

 

Thanks for the additional informations FalkeEins!

 

I have read that the 4 gun turret caused enough turbulence that some were removed.

 

Yes thats right! And it slowed them down a bit. Thanks.

 

re-read in my previous postings why the 9th AF removed the upper .50's, the 414th nfs in some cases kept them as a body/unit they were serving in the Med and only a very small detachment fought alongside the 422nd in the Ardenne during December/Janaury 44-45.

 

FalkeEnis
Interesting story. Thanks for posting.

Empire32

 

cheers

this might be of interest too ..425 th NFS photo archive held by the San Diego Air & Space Museum

425th Night Fighter Squadron - a set on Flickr

 

nice set of pics of ground life Neil, and a great shot of one of the crates fitted with the ground attack rockets so often used in late fall of 44 into 45 by the unit. I've got a shot of one-two of the birds with Napalm stored somewhere here. as to the chap marked CEO sure does not look like Lewis to me.

 

you're very welome Erich - great thread by the way. Thanks for your detailed posts on P-61 ops in the ETO !

 

thanks Neil more coming the JG 301 pile sits on top of the 422nd/425th nfs files right now the office is a zone lets just say . . . . .

as March 45 was sometime ago and we are seeing it head out for 2011 will just mention that NSGr 1 Ju 87 D's were quite active in bombing forward US positions along the Mosel corridor, with the P-61's having troubles staying with the slow flying crates and in many cases while the Widow pilots tried to get in range and fire the viligiant rear gunner would advise a simple wing over of the Stuka and the German craft would be lost in low lying smoke and haze in the valley.

 

December 16/17, 1944 "A" 133B, op # 91 422nd NFS Patrols on December 16: 2125hrs, finished on December 17: 0739hrs.

14 P-61A's on Defensive Patrols. clouds 5 to 7/10ths in V Corps area, 10/10 with big breaks in VII Corps area.

# 34 0, 3 chases, closed to 5,000 feet, but enemy A/C dropped flares and dove to the deck and lost.
# 44 0, 3 chases, one to 4,000 feet, but enemy A/C peeled off to port and too evasive after 3 passes on aircraft, dove to the deck and lost (note: Ju 88G-6 with tail warning radar)
# 58 0 in V Corps area at Angles 11
# 73 Abort due to air speed indicator out
# 34 Pilot Bolinder 3 chases, 2 contacts in V Corps area to Rhine at Angles 11. Got to 2 miles with 1 aircraft did 180 degree turn and dropped window, 2nd contact at 3 miles with window again. at 900 feet ID exhausts as a Fw 190A, back from 50 feet and from 400 ft to 100 feet fired 20mm, hit engine and aircraft crashed and exploded.
# 73 0, 4 chases- overshot targets in V-Corps area Angles 11.
# 44 0, 8 chases in VII Corps area, overshot all targets and low on fuel.
# 58 0, noted many Ju 87's. Had bent weapon in VII Corps area at Angels 3.

# 36 Bolinder in VII Corps area and front lines to the Rhine at Angles 5. At 200 ft. visual on Me 110G. fired once and destroyed it, crasehd and burned on SW edge of Bonn Airdrome. A 2 mile contact was then made and at 500 ft ID as He 111, fired and hit fuselage and wing roots. Aircraft nosed down and crashed into the ground and exploded. another contact at 2 miles and ID a He 111, the P-61 made a very hard turn not to collide with the enemy aircraft. This activity forced the He 111 pilot to lose partial control of his aircraft and he dove into the clouds.
# 34 Elmore pilot. In area of VII Corps at Angels 10, a 4 1/2 mile contact was made. closed to within 1000 feet then down to 500ft and an ID of a Ju 88. fired and hit the engines and fuselage/wings. The enemy aircraft climbed a little and then dove slightly, increased into the dive and then vertical when it crashed into the ground and exploded at 0355hrs.
# 73 Ernst pilot. in area of VII Corps at Angles 10. At 1 mile contact was made and then down to 700ft ID as a Ju 87. Opened fire at 200ft and the 2nd burst set wings on fire. The Ju made a tight spiral turn and hit the ground and exploded at 0523hrs.
# 54 ? 0, 2 chases, in area of VII Corps at Angles 7.
# 34 ? 0, 3 chases, 2 contacts but both lost in the VII Corps area at Angles 5.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Op # 119, December 16, 1944, Solid overcast below 2500 feet

425th NFS

2 A/C on NF Intercept/Armed Recee patrols

# 81 W.A. Andrews-pilot. 0 on patrol, GCI failure
# 70 Thompson-pilot. Dropped leaflets and then strafed a town near Ottweiler.

3 P-61's on Rhubarb patrols

# 37 Byars-pilot. 0 on targets, bad weather noted.
# 71 Woolley-pilot. shot up 6 vehicles in flames as part of a ground convoy east towards Saarbrucken and Homburg line. 200 20mm rounds used.
# 39 Lewis-pilot. 0 on targets, bad weather noted.

 

Two-parts for the 422nd NFS

December 17, 1944

A 11D 0, negative

December 17/18, 1944

A 12B 2/10 to 3/10 at Angels 3 to 4

3 Intruder Aircraft/ A-20's

A-20 # 9935 dropped 4 bombs on Rheinbach marshalling yard and noted explosions
A-20 # 9708 dropped 3 bombs on ground, 1 bomb hung up in bomb-bay.
A-20 # 9671 dropped 4 bombs on Schleiden from Aangels 9. Noted flashes and explosions

A 134B Good visibility to 10/10 CAVU, operation # 92

9 P-61's under GCI control

# 36 0, made 6 contacts at Angles 4, lost in area of Bonn, Köln along the Rhine
# 34 0, 2 chases but too low an altitude, lost in area of Bonn and /Adenau
# 58 0, 5 chases north and south of front lines along the Rhine at Angels 10
# 68 0, 4 chases, 1 friendly in areas of Schleiden, Prum at Angels 10
# 73 0, 5 chases, 2 Friendlies, 2 A/C hit the deck and lost.
# 36 2nd mission 0, 5 chases, 1 hit the deck in area of Bonn and front lines at Angels 6
# 34 2nd mission 0, 4 chases, called off by GCI along Rhine and front lines at Angels 4 to 10 1/2
# 68 2nd mission 0, 8 chases in area of Bedburg, Schleiden at Angels 5 to 6
# 73 2nd mission 0, 6 chases noted enemy A/C too slow, overshot them all along Rhine to front lines, west of Bonn at Angels 5 to 8.

 

Thanks Erich for this information! Always great to read more.

 

sure Ullrich my pleasure, I have quite a bit of catching up to do, the season is strong but happily almost done - next week then a breather till Mays end. what we will find is more and more encounters with LW night fighters and also as I mentioned all through the postings - Ju 87D's in the night role.

425th NFS 17 December 1944, two roles by P-61's

Op # 120 scattered clouds from 2-3,000ft.

9 A/C on NF intercepts and armed recee

# 86 aborted with radio failure
# 71 Anderson: strafed convoy and noted 2 explosions near Homburg and Zweibrucken, 0 on patrol
# 71 again if A/C number is correct (?) Stewert strafed convoy from Tholey to St. Wendel, 0 on patrol
# 86 WA Andrews strafed 2 MT's by Neunkirchen, 20 MT's from Neunkirchen to St. Avold with some 70 vehicles in column, 1 MT rolled over a hill burning as noted.

10 P-61's on Rhubarb

# 49 Lewis made 5 passes at convoys between Hohfelden-St. Mendel hit 30 MT's and noted 12 explosions over a 10 mile area.
# 39 Slayton strafed 5 convoys east and north-east of Homburg
# 81 Gray shot up 6 MT near Kaiserslautern-Homburg
# 49 Montmeat strafed lights in Nohfelden
# 74 WA Andrews ? strafed 1 MT and lights
# 39 Neiswender strafed 1 Barge, damaged 1 MT
# 49 2nd mission, different pilot - Buck strafed lights NE of Neunkirchen
# 39 2nd mission for Slayton, strafed 1 Barge and lights
# 49 2nd mission, different pilot-Anderson strafed convoy and noted explosions along Ulmet/Baumholder. Convoy along the Nahe River and then strafed what appeared to be a replacement center.

6,074 rounds of 20mm used. 36 plus to 54 MT's destroyed, 7 damaged. 1 Barge claimed destroyed, 1 Barged damaged, 1 Troop concentration attacked.

part of the 425th NFS microfiche hard to read..........